Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 20: The Courtship of the Little Whiskers

If the Drop-Off Wars were a battle for territory, the last few days had turned into a battle for... me.

The Four B.A.D.s had stopped just dropping off their sons and leaving. Now, they lingered.

The Little Whiskers Daycare had become the most intimidating social club in the empire.

"LADY PRIMROSE!" General Rajah Khanda boomed, entering the shop with Arjun on his shoulder. He wasn’t wearing his usual uniform. He was wearing a sleeveless training shirt that showed off arms the size of tree trunks.

"I noticed your flour sacks were low!" he announced, effortlessly hefting four 50-pound bags of flour onto my counter. "So I sprinted to the mill and back. Consider it a warm-up!"

He flexed. He actually flexed.

"Dad," Arjun whispered loudly to Vali, who had just walked in. "He did pushups in the reflection of the window before we came in. It was embarrassing."

"Thank you, General," I said, trying not to stare at the biceps. "But I have a delivery service."

"Inefficient!" Rajah grinned, leaning over the counter, invading my personal space with radiating heat and cheer. "Why pay a mule when you have a Tiger?"

---

Lord Rurik Jaeger didn’t bring flour. He brought security.

He walked in, glared at a squirrel-kin mom until she scurried away, and then placed a small, heavy box on my desk.

"Lockpicks," he grunted. "And a dagger. Concealable."

"Rurik," I sighed. "I run a daycare. Who am I stabbing?"

"You are a tail-less fox in a city of predators," he growled, his icy-blue eyes scanning the street outside my window possessively. He reached out, his rough fingers brushing my hand as he pushed the box closer. "If anyone bothers you... you stab them. Then you call me. In that order."

Vali rolled his pink eyes. "He spent an hour brushing his tail this morning," he whispered to Jasper. "He never brushes his tail. He says it makes him look ’soft’. He smells like pine oil."

---

Archduke Cassian Argentis didn’t sweat, and he didn’t carry weapons. He brought paperwork.

"I have reviewed your lease agreement," Cassian said, sliding a document across the table. He was wearing a suit of emerald silk that matched his eyes perfectly. "It is predatory. The landlord is overcharging you for water rights."

He leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial, silky whisper. "I have taken the liberty of purchasing the building. You now pay rent to me."

I stared at him. "You bought my building?"

"I am a benevolent landlord," he smirked, his golden eyes glinting. "My only condition is... exclusive tasting rights for any new dessert menu."

Jasper sighed from the reading nook. "He tried on six different cravats," he told Silas. "He asked Alistair which one made him look ’approachable yet wealthy’. It was painful to watch."

---

Duke Lucien Crepusci didn’t say anything.

I turned around from the sink, and there was a vase of Midnight Orchids—flowers that only grew in the deepest, most dangerous caves—sitting next to the soap.

I looked at the shadows in the corner. They seemed to shimmer.

Silas looked at the flowers, then at the empty corner. He gave a tiny thumbs-up to the darkness.

While Primrose was busy in the kitchen, humming obliviously as she prepped lunch—trying to ignore the fact that she now owned a dagger, a building contract, and rare flowers—the cubs were holding a summit on the rug.

Arjun hung upside down from his chair, his golden eyes wide. "Operation Dad is getting weird. He asked me what Prim’s favorite color is. I said ’Meat’."

Vali gnawed aggressively on his chew-toy. "My dad asked if she likes fur. I said I wasn’t sure. He looked sad."

Jasper adjusted his glasses—he didn’t actually need them, but he felt the frames made him look smarter. "The Archduke is displaying classic courtship rituals. Display of resources, like the building. Display of status, like the clothes. It is... statistically probable he is attempting a merger."

"A merger?" Clover squeaked. "Like... marriage?"

The four predators fell silent, looking at each other as the realization dawned.

"If she marries my dad," Arjun said, his eyes widening at the tactical advantage, "I get soufflé every day."

"If she marries my dad," Vali growled, thumping his tail, "I get to live here!"

"If she marries my brother," Jasper countered, crossing his arms, "I will have a sister who understands the importance of temperature regulation. It is the logical choice."

They all turned to look at Silas.

The Silas didn’t speak. He simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a drawing he had made. It depicted Primrose holding hands with a stick figure that had distinct cat ears—clearly representing Lucien—while three other stick figures (a wolf, a tiger, and a snake) were drawn falling into a deep, spiked pit.

"Aggressive," Vali nodded approvingly.

"But who does Prim like?" Clover asked, tilting her head.

The entire group turned to look at the kitchen. Primrose was currently humming a cheerful tune, completely oblivious to the council of heirs as she chopped carrots with a speed that blurred her hands.

"She likes food," Arjun decided.

"She likes quiet," Jasper observed.

"She likes us," Vali said firmly.

The Council of Cubs broke up when the bell jingled.

But it wasn’t a courier. It was a customer. Then another. Then three more.

The rumors of the Little Whiskers Daycare had hit the common district hard. Suddenly, every Badger-mom, Squirrel-dad, and Raccoon-aunt wanted to drop off their kits for a few hours to see the Miracle Chef.

Within ten minutes, my shop was swarming. I had twelve kits running around, demanding snacks.

"Prim! I need juice!"

"Prim! He ate my crayon!"

"Prim! I’m stuck in the chair!"

I was drowning. I was chopping fruit with one hand, stirring soup with the other, and trying to stop Vali from teaching the Raccoon-kits how to howl.

Then, the door opened.

The Four B.A.D.s had returned. Early.

"We... forgot our sons’ jackets," General Rajah Khanda lied badly. It was a sunny day.

"Security check," Lord Rurik Jaeger grunted, eyeing the crowd.

"I am inspecting my property," Archduke Cassian Argentis sniffed.

Duke Lucien Crepusci just appeared in the corner holding a tea set.

They saw me. Sweating, covered in flour, frantically trying to plate twelve lunches at once.

They looked at each other. The Rivalry flared up.

I can help her better than you, their eyes said.

"Stand aside, Lady Primrose!" Rajah boomed, rolling up his sleeves to reveal those tree-trunk arms. "Heavy lifting is a Tiger’s duty!"

He marched into the kitchen and grabbed a massive pot of stew... and accidentally ripped the handle right off.

Clang.

"I... will hold the pot itself!" Rajah corrected, hugging the scalding metal like it was nothing. "Soup is served!"

"Inefficient," Cassian sighed. He stepped behind the counter, producing a golden abacus. "You commoners! Form an orderly queue! One copper per biscuit, two for juice. No credit! And wipe your feet!"

He began aggressively organizing the terrified squirrel-moms into a tax-compliant line.

"Security breach," Rurik growled, seeing a Badger-kit holding a plastic knife. He snatched it away. "Too dangerous. I will handle the cutlery."

The Wolf Marquis pulled out his own combat dagger—a blade that had slain monsters—and started chopping carrots with terrifying speed and violence. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. The carrots didn’t stand a chance.

And Lucien?

I turned around to grab a plate, and he was just... there. Silently holding it out.

"Thanks," I breathed. I turned to grab a spoon. He was there with a spoon. I turned to grab a napkin. He was there with a napkin.

He was the world’s creepiest, most efficient sous-chef.

"You are overwhelmed," Lucien whispered in my ear. "Shall I... dispose of the excess customers?"

"NO disposing!" I shrieked.

It was absolute chaos.

The Tiger General was acting as a human ladle.

The Wolf Marquis was weaponizing vegetables.

The Snake Archduke was auditing toddlers.

The Panther Duke was haunting the service line. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

And the worst part? It was working. The lunch rush was demolished in record time.

---

Later that afternoon,

The shop finally cleared out. The Dads stood amidst the wreckage of the lunch service, looking proud of themselves. Rurik was wiping carrot pulp off his dagger. Rajah was flexing.

The bell jingled one last time.

"We’re closed!" Rurik barked without looking.

"Oh?" a light, musical voice answered. "Even for me?"

We all froze.

Standing in the doorway, wearing a commoner disguise that consisted of a silk cloak worth more than my shop and a pair of oversized sunglasses, was Princess Leonora.

She lowered the glasses, her hazel eyes scanning the room.

She saw Archduke Argentis holding a dishrag.

She saw Duke Crepusci lurking by the sink.

She saw Lord Jaeger holding a combat knife covered in vegetable guts.

And then, her eyes landed on General Rajah Khanda.

The General was covered in flour. He was wearing a tiny, frilly pink apron that said "Kiss the Cook" (I didn’t even know I owned that) over his military uniform. He was holding a tray of biscuits like they were grenades.

Leonora’s face went bright red. Her lion ears twitched so hard they blurred.

"General..." she breathed, looking at his arms. "You... bake?"

Rajah looked down at the apron. He looked at the Princess. He panicked.

"STRATEGIC FLOUR CAMOUFLAGE!" he yelled, saluting. "FOR THE EMPIRE!"

Leonora looked like she might faint from the sheer force of her crush. "It is... very... effective."

I slumped against the counter.

I had the heirs. I had the dads. And now I had the Princess ogling the Tiger General in my kitchen.

"Okay," I said, my voice weak. "Who wants snacks?"

Arjun popped up from behind the counter. "I DO! But Dad ate all the protein balls!"

"I needed the fuel!" Rajah defended.

I looked at my Little Whiskers Daycare. It was a mess. It was a circus.

But as I watched Vali share a carrot with Clover (grudgingly), and Jasper lecture Silas on the geometry of a cookie... I realized something.

I wasn’t just surviving Hard Mode. I was winning.

But I still hadn’t found a husband. And looking at the four chaotic, competitive, terrifying men in my kitchen... I had no idea how I was ever going to choose just one without starting a civil war.